THOUGH HE MISSED the Six Nations through injury, Bill Johnston picked out an important trait in the Ireland U20s as he watched on TV. The Munster out-half, who made his debut in yesterday’s remarkable 26-25 comeback win over Wales at the World Rugby U20 Championship, noted the resilience in a team who lost their first two Six Nations games. Ireland […]

Rory Keane reports from Johannesburg IT WAS A tender moment after 80 minutes of brutality in Cape Town. Having played like a man possessed throughout Ireland’s victory over South Africa at Newlands on Saturday, Devin Toner rightfully received the man-of-the-match award before paying tribute to his father, Peter, who passed away in the week leading up to the Guinness Pro12 […]

Updated at 18.30 IT WAS A day to forget for Joe Schmidt’s side but it proved to be a day to remember for our national sevens men’s team. Anthony Eddy’s charges topped Group A with three wins from three — against Zimbabwe, Samoa and Tonga — in the Olympic qualifying event in Monaco today to keep their hopes of going […]

IRELAND’S TOUR OF South Africa ended in disappointment as they lost 19-13 in the final Test to ensure the Boks wrapped up a 2-1 series success. Read our match report from Port Elizabeth here.  Tiernan O’Halloran: not rated His main involvement was to be taken out in the air by Willie le Roux, but briefly looked comfortable in the Test […]

LUKE FITZGERALD HAS this morning announced his retirement from professional rugby with immediate effect. The Leinster and Ireland back has been advised on medical grounds to hang up his boots after an incident during the Pro12 final defeat to Connacht last month. Fitzgerald missed Ireland’s summer tour of South Africa with a knee injury but a recurrence of a neck […]

ALL BLACKS COACH Steve Hansen rubbished claims he met with referee Romain Poite in the lead up to his team’s win over Australia on Saturday. The Wallabies are reportedly set to make an official complaint over the apparent meeting, which Hansen denied a day after his side’s 29-9 victory. Hansen said he had met with assistant referee Jaco Peyper before […]

HARLEQUINS NUMBER EIGHT Nick Easter has retired from rugby to take up a coaching position with the club today. The former England number eight bows out of the game after 12 years at The Stoop, in which time he has made a club-record 281 appearances for Quins. Yesterday, the Premiership club announced the signing of George Naoupu – an experienced […]

MUNSTER ARE SET to announce the signing of South Africa international Jaco Taute ahead of the new season. The three-times capped Stormers and Western Province centre/fullback is expected to join on a short-term contract initially, following injuries to Munster midfield pair Francis Saili and Sam Arnold. The deal was first reported by Netwerk24 in South Africa, and sources in Ireland have […]

STUART LANCASTER, WHO will take charge of Leinster’s defence with immediate effect, said he wants to help the province become a “dominant force in Europe again”. Lancaster was introduced at Leinster’s UCD base today. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO The former England head coach was unveiled to the media at Leinster’s UCD base this afternoon, after the province had earlier announced that […]

SITTING ACROSS THE table from Enda McNulty, I catch myself early on. We’ve all seen the clip. Hundreds of times. ’We fight for that inch’. We get it. The motivational techniques, the inspirational stuff – it tends to irritate us after a while. We’re wary of over-complicating. We remain steadfastly suspicious of keeping an open-mind. It’s not long before the begrudgery and […]